


Sandcastles and the Ocean of Hope

by Lord_Byron_Mudkippington



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington/pseuds/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington
Summary: Dating Honoka is an adventure all on its own.
Relationships: Kousaka Honoka/Watanabe You
Kudos: 26





	Sandcastles and the Ocean of Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PoeticHonoka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoeticHonoka/gifts).



> I wrote this for a Secret Santa I did in a group I'm in. I did not expect to be writing this pairing, but hopefully my giftee enjoyed it.

It was interesting how she ended up with two happy-go-lucky orange-haired former idols in her life. If You was a betting woman, she could've won the lottery and just spent her days sailing the coast in her boat. One of those gingers was her best friend Chika, whom she had been attached at the hip with for almost her entire life. The other was none other than Honoka Kousaka, the former leader of the idol group that inspired their own to form. Funny how the world works.

Aqours had met μ's a few times due to their idol connections, but even after they broke up, the meetings didn't end. They tended to be in smaller groups, and that's how she ended up spending time with Chika, Honoka, and Kotori. It turned out they had more in common than just idols, and it made for easy talks whenever they got the chance. Going to college in Tokyo made it easier to meet up with them, which was a relief. Constantly taking the train for Uchiura to Tokyo would've been a headache.

She couldn't exactly remember when she started spending time just with Honoka. It hadn't been her decision: Honoka had been the one to ask her to spend time together. First Chika would say that she couldn't go, and then Kotori wasn't showing up either. There was this feeling she was getting, but she didn't want to say anything for fear of being wrong. When Honoka ended up confessing that she liked her, and had been meeting with her alone because of that, she found out that she had been right.

It was weird to be dating Honoka, mostly due to the reaction of her friends. Honoka's friends gave them a bit of ribbing, but she was easily assimilated into their group. As for her own friends, half of them acted like she had started dating a celebrity, which she sort of had. Chika would constantly bring it up, babbling on about how lucky she was to get to date _the_ Honoka! Which... yeah, she was. Honoka was great. Honestly, even worse than Chika's reaction was Dia's: she thought she was being subtle about it, but asking how good of a kisser Honoka was made things pretty obvious

Outside of her friends pestering her about how dating Honoka was like, things were great. Despite the stories she had heard while Kotori was around, Honoka wasn't as empty-headed as she may have appeared. Sure, she could get involved in some crazy activities, but she was caring and romantic. She took an active interest in what You was interested in, which was nice. At least she was kind enough to listen whenever she talked about the tenth big shipwreck that had happened in European waters.

Not that she'd tell Dia, but the kissing was _great_. It turned out that was another thing Honoka did well. If she wanted to make out, she'd leave You breathless. Even her years of diving training did jack squat compared to what this woman could do to her. Things went fast without being _too_ fast, if that made sense. She felt as comfortable with Honoka as she did with any of her closest friends, like the two of them had known each other for years. Honoka just had that sort of aura around her.

Over their first summer together, they spent a lot of time on You's dad's boat. Often they would invite their friends, and so it was packed with good friends and good food. Sometimes, however, it would just be the two of them, and You liked to sit on the deck with Honoka and look at the stars. She'd lay her head on Honoka's shoulder, being able to be the one receiving comfort rather than giving it. Honoka made her feel comfortable and safe.

"How can people see shapes and stuff in the stars?" They had been sitting there in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes before Honoka spoke up. "They just look like stars. I don't see any crabs or anything." She frowned deeply, lifting a hand up to start trying to trace shapes in the sky. After a minute, she gave up and let her arm flop down with a sigh. "Do you see anything, You?"

"Well..." She looked up at the night sky, remembering some of the constellations Kanan had showed her when they were kids. They hadn't gone stargazing in a long time, though, and her memory of what she might be seeing in their sky at that time of night was hazy. "I used to be able to, back when Kanan, Chika, and I would stargaze together. Kanan started doing that with Dia and Mari, though, so we haven't together in a long time." She wasn't sure if she was bitter about that or not.

"Hmm..." She wasn't sure if Honoka picked up on any lingering emotions she had about that fact. Her eyes still remained on the sky, but a quick glance made it clear that Honoka wasn't entirely focused on the stars. With unfocused eyes, she seemed to be staring beyond the sky, up into the outer reaches of space. "Sometimes... we don't get to do the childhood things we love to do with our friends."

"Huh?" You looked at her, tilting her head in confusion. That sounded a lot deeper than she had expected. Honoka hadn't been much for well thought out theories and sentences during their time together. She was more of a 'let's go get 'em!' kinda woman. It reminded her of Chika, but this reminded her more of a very pensive Kanan.

"When I was a kid, Kotori and I used to play dress-up a lot. She always had the cutest dresses, so she'd let me put them on, and I'd pretend to be a model. We had to play inside because I kept tripping over my feet, but it was so much fun." You giggled, imagining a little Honoka tripping over Kotori's dresses. That definitely tracked with what she knew about her girlfriend. "We haven't done that in so long, though. Since we're older, we can't spend all our time playing dress-up. Well, except for dressing up for work." She laughed at that, nudging You's shoulder.

"I do love dressing up." Her lifelong love for uniforms still survived to that day, and she still remembered clapping with excitement seeing Honoka in her old high school uniform. Of course, _Chika_ was squealing like she was still _in_ high school. "But yeah, I get what you mean. We can only hold onto the past for so long." She sighed, nuzzling closer to Honoka. "I'm surprised you said that, though. It was very philosophical." 

"Wow, rude." Honoka pouted at her, which broke any tension that remained over them. You laughed, muffling the sound on Honoka's shoulder. It clearly wasn't serious, as Honoka started to laugh too. "I'm being serious, though!" she said while shaking with laughter. "I can be very philosophical! I got a C in my philosophy class."

"Really?"

"Yeah! My professor said "Kousaka, _see_ me after class." You just leveled her with a narrow-eyed stare.

"You know I can throw you off my boat, right?"

"You love me, though." Honoka grinned, the stars ignored as she flopped on top of You. She laughed as she was pinned to the floor, but she couldn't help but blush as well. Honoka was much freer with saying that she loved her, and she was always so open and honest about it. Again, she was like Chika in that way. Sometimes it made You feel like Umi: much more hesitant to reveal how she truly felt. 

"Of course I do." She did, but it was something she felt was more meaningful to say. "Did you actually take a philosophy class?"

"Of course not." Honoka suddenly shot up, leaving You on the floor as she scrambled for her bag. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She pulled out two neatly-wrapped... uh, _something_. You had no idea what they were until Honoka unwrapped them to reveal two delicious-looking manjuu. "I made these for us!" She offered one to You, who took with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Honoka! I didn't even realize how hungry I was." They both took one and munched on it together, savoring the flavors on their tongues. "Mmm, this is so good! I think your manjuu is the best thing I've ever eaten! Don't tell Mari I said that, though." Not that she thought Mari would be offended that something might be better than her stewshine, but there might end up being a competition. A _big_ competition.

"Don't worry, I won't. Even if it _would_ be funny." They looked back up at the stars, finishing up their manjuu. "Ahh, I still don't see anything," Honoka whined, sticking her tongue out at the sky. "Oh well, those stars are lame. I've got the brightest star right here, and she's shaped like you!" She wrapped her arms around You, kissing her cheek.

"H-Honokaaa..." You blushed, but she'd never duck away from a Honoka kiss. A Honokiss. Mari would be proud of that one. She leaned into Honoka, letting her body heat warm her and protect her from the breeze blowing in off the water. Eventually, however, the two of them had to return to shore. It was getting _too_ late, and they both needed to go to sleep soon. However, as soon as they got off the dock, Honoka went straight for the beach. "Honoka? What are you doing?"

"I wanna build a sandcastle with you!" she replied cheerily, completely dumbfounding You. "We can at least do one childish thing together before the night's over, right?" That was Honoka for you. You just smiled and followed her, the two of them leaving their shoes and socks on the dock before running barefoot through the sand. They laughed together, running after each other until Honoka decided to drop to her knees and start pawing at the sand.

It seemed crazy to build a sandcastle on an empty beach so late at night, but there was a strange sense of serenity to it. The waves lapped at the sand, unable to reach where Honoka had chosen to start. There were the sounds of owls, crickets, and the general settling of their surroundings. She wondered when the last time she had noticed all of this was. Leave it Honoka, the most 'on at all times' girl, to have her slow down enough to take it all in.

She wasn't sure how long they spent working on the sandcastle. Every time she looked over at Honoka, she was packing sand together with great determination. They didn't have any buckets to help them, but Honoka was surprisingly skilled at sand architecture. You just followed her lead until they had a rudimentary sandcastle in front of them. It wasn't pretty, but it at least kind of looked like a castle. Or maybe a dilapidated building.

"It's perfect," Honoka, declared, sitting down with an emphatic grunt. She didn't seem to care that she was getting sand on her shorts, so You just shrugged and sat down next to her. Their sandcastle sure didn't look perfect, but it was theirs, so it was as perfect as it needed to be. "Just like you!" Of course, Honoka had to make sure to get You blushing one more time before the night was out.

"Stop it, Honoka. You're making me blush." That, of course, would not get Honoka to stop. She just grinned and kissed her cheek again, snuggling up closer to her. Smiling softly, You looked out to the sea, seeing the moon reflected on its tranquil surface. The waves kept rolling in, but they couldn't reach the sandcastle. It stayed strong, despite the strange architecture, and the perilous location. That had to count for something. "You're perfect too."


End file.
